RIVERLIGHTS SCHEME

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
 

The Riverlights development has been taken over by Derby Riverlights Limited after MetroHolst went into administration and it is hoped work could start on the project by the end of April. The company is headed by David Osborne and is owned by the Kailash Trust which bought the assets of MetroHolst for a sum, believed to have been in excess of £5m.

Derby Riverlights is negotiating a bond, expected to be in the region of £2m, that will be held by the council to replace the bus station in case the development fails. Unlike MetroHolst, which had been granted a 150-year lease on the site by Derby City Council, Derby Riverlights is not looking to secure tenancy agreements before starting work on the site.

Council leader Chris Williamson said, "This is a company that is very serious, they have substantial resources behind them. We are very hopeful they will make rapid progress and the demolition hopefully fairly soon and construction should begin before the end of the calendar year." (Source: BBC News, Mar/06)

Gala Casino, which runs 28 casinos in the UK, was close to signing a contract to become the first confirmed major occupant of the Riverlights development. An agent working on behalf of Riverlights developer MetroHolst confirmed that Gala Casino had instructed its lawyers to study the terms of a contract with a view to moving into second-floor premises on the proposed bus station site redevelopment.

Two other casino chains were understood to be waiting in the wings should the Gala bid fail. MetroHolst was also marketing the 150,000 square feet of office space to Government departments and agencies following Chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to relocate 20,000 civil service jobs from the south-east to the regions. Derby will have a new casino in the Riverlights scheme regardless of a city council bid to the Government under new gambling laws.

David Osborne said he was in an "advanced stage" of negotiations with Gala. Council leader Chris Williamson said, "We think a casino would be good for Derby. It will help in the regeneration of the city centre and have a positive impact on the economy." Derby already has the Carlton Casino, in Friar Gate, and the Stanley Derby Casino, in Colyear Street. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Apr/06)

The Bus Station Action Group has put together drawings and plans but a request, to council leader Chris Williamson, that the group be allowed to present its plans, has been turned down. Under the group's proposals the original booking hall would be reinstated, with an internet cafe above it.

Group member Pat Woolley said, "I think it's very disappointing that they're not letting us make the presentation. I believe they've got an obligation to consider all of the options but they're not doing that. We want to see the bus station re-invented, but our plans would be much more sympathetic and make the most of the River Gardens."

The city council's deputy chief executive, Michael Foote, said the council would not be able to make drastic changes. He said, "The fact that a new developer has taken over the project does not mean we're back at square one. Derby Riverlights owns the development agreement and has tenancy of the bus station because it took them by buying MetroHolst." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Apr/06)

Derby City Council is looking into the feasibility of building a "small-scale" hydro-electric facility at Longbridge Weir, near to the Riverlights development next to the River Gardens and the Council House. Water would be passed through a turbine to produce electricity before being returned to the river. It is estimated that it would produce enough energy each year to supply all the needs of the Queen's Leisure Centre for seven months.

The council is also considering other uses for the energy, including supplying the Council House or generating revenue by selling it to the National Grid. The station would take four years to complete and would cost £500,000. Savings in energy costs or income created could be about £50,000 a year. Councillor Chris Williamson, the leader of Derby City Council, said that the size and style of the station would have to be carefully studied to make sure that it fitted in with the surroundings.

Mr Williamson said, "What's exciting is that this would put Derby at the leading edge of alternative technologies. Of course, harnessing the power of the Derwent is not a new idea. The textile mills that once operated along the river between Matlock Bath and Derby, including the Silk Mill, relied on water power to drive their machinery. Now we're looking at the possibility of harnessing water power for the 21st century in a way that couldn't have been imagined in the days when the mills were built." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jul/06)

A conical structure rising from the banks of the River Derwent could be powering Derby's Council House by 2010. The building, planned by the city council, will house a £1.66m hydro-electric power station that will pump 46.8m litres of water an hour from the river to generate energy. A planning application is about to be submitted and the Environment Agency is considering whether to allow water from the river to be used.

If both are approved, the power station could be built by Longbridge Weir and operating by April, 2010. Councillor Lucy Care, cabinet member for planning and transportation, said the plant would make use of sustainable energy opportunities. She said, “The Council House it is sitting there by the river, near a weir, and it is stupid of us not to be using it.” The structure will be covered in climbing plants and be accessed by swirling ramps around its outside so it can be used by disabled people.

At the top, there will be a platform for people to look across the river and a bridge linking it to the Riverlights development of restaurants, hotels, a casino and a bus station. Inside are the generators and equipment which would pump water out of the river and push it through turbines to generate power, which would then be transferred to the Council House via cables. The building, which is preparing to undergo a multi-million-pound refurbishment, may sometimes have to draw extra electricity from the National Grid.

But at other times, particularly in the evenings, it will use less energy than the station will produce, meaning it can sell the extra to the grid. Once up and running, it is expected to bring in around £128,000 a year. However, with costs of more than £1.6m and running costs of around £20,000 a year, the authority has estimated it will not pay for itself for the first 25 years. The council's annual energy bill is £85,000. Mrs Care said those estimates, made at the end of last year, could already be superseded.

She said, “The cost of electricity is rising all the time, with soaring oil prices, so the pay-back period of this power station is getting closer. We need to get this going as soon as possible so we can set an example to other people and businesses about what they could be doing in terms of helping the environment.” Original proposals for the power station were for a single-storey brick building, costing around £1.5m. But the authority has invested a further £160,000 to make the building more attractive. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Aug/08)